UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –The Penn State men's basketball team will face its fifth top 25 ranked opponent in the month of January Thursday, January 31 at 7 p.m. when No. 17 Purdue makes its first trip to the Bryce Jordan Center since February 2017. The Nittany Lions are one of only two teams to play five ranked opponents this month and seven teams that held or currently have a top-25 ranking or have received votes when the teams met.
With classes cancelled at the University Park park on Thursday, all Penn State students are admitted free with gates opening for student season ticket holders at 5:45 p.m. Free chicken fingers will be served to students pregame at The Climb Diner, while supplies last. In addition, a portion of all public single-game tickets sold will be donated to Coaches vs. Cancer-Penn State. Penn State faculty and staff are eligible to purchase tickets for the game with seats starting at $12 each. Gates for the general public open at 6:00 p.m.
"Beat the Boilermaker" buttons will be given to the first 1,000 fans to enter the BJC and Coaches vs. Cancer-Penn State will host a number of activities and will have information tables to raise awareness and support for the organization's mission and local partnerships.
Purdue made its last trip to the BJC in February of 2017 and the 14th-ranked Boilermakers escaped with a 74-70 overtime win. The last three meetings between these two teams have been decided by an average of five points. Penn State and Purdue met twice, once in the regular season when No. 6 Purdue held on for a 76-73 win at Mackey Arena (2/18/18) and in the semifinals of the Big Ten Conference Tournament when the No. 8 Boilermakers took the 78-70 win despite a game-high 33 points by then-senior Nittany Lion Shep Garner.
Nittany Lion forward and Julius Erving Award candidate Lamar Stevens is averaging 18.7 points per game, good for third in the Big Ten, and 7.8 rebounds per game for eighth on that list. From North Wales, Pennsylvania, the junior is one of only three players ranked in the league's top 10 in scoring and rebounding.
Redshirt junior Mike Watkins made his debut in the NCAA and Big Ten stat rankings, coming in at No. 5 in rebounding at 8.4 per game and No. 9 for blocked shots at 1.5 per game. Senior guard Josh Reaves continues to lead the league in steals as the two-time stat champion has 2.6 per game and 52 on the year, 15 more than the next individual on the list. With 45 3-point field goals, Myles Dread is seventh in the Big Ten with the highest total among freshmen while classmate Rasir Bolton leads the conference with a 90.3 free throw percentage.
TICKETS: Tickets for the Purdue game on Thursday, Jan. 31 are free. Gates open at 6:00 p.m. GoPSUSsports.com, call 1-800-NITTANY or visit the Penn State Athletics Ticket Office at the Bryce Jordan Center beginning three hours before tipoff on gameday. A portion of all public single-game tickets sold for Thursday's game directly benefits Coaches vs. Cancer-Penn State.
PROMOTIONS:
Penn State students admitted free for Jan. 31 game vs. Purdue
Penn State Faculty and Staff night with tickets starting at $12
Coaches vs. Cancer-Penn State night with a portion of each single-game ticket donated to CVC-Penn State
Free "Beat the Boilermakers" buttons for the first 1,000 fans
WATCH: FS1
TALENT: Lisa Byington (pxp) & Dickey Simpkins (analyst)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
AFFILIATES: GoPSUsports.com/MBBAffiliates1819
Online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
Sirius 133 | XM 195 | Internet 957
DIGITAL PROGRAM: Purdue at Penn State
LIVE STATS: Purdue at Penn State
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | Purdue
SCHEDULE: Penn State | Purdue
STATS: Penn State | Purdue
GAME NOTES: Penn State | Purdue
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | Purdue
PURDUE
Coach: Matt Painter (Purdue, 1994)
Purdue Record: 309-155 (14th season)
Career Record: 334-160 (15th season)
2018-19 Record: 14-6, 7-2 Big Ten
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#3 Carsen Edwards, Jr., G – 24.2 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#24 Grady Eifert, Sr., F – 5.0 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#3 Carsen Edwards, Jr., G – 3.5 ppg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 120-134 (8th season)
Career Record: 162-162 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 18.7 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#24 Mike Watkins, R-Jr., F - 8.4 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#23 Josh Reaves, Sr., G - 3.6 apg
PENN STATE STARTERS (LAST GAME)
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 18.7 | rpg: 7.8
Note: 4 pts from 1,400 for his car eer; 25th career 20-plus point game (21) vs. Rutgers
F -- 24 – Mike Watkins – R-Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.4 | rpg: 8.4
Note: With back-to-back nine-rebound games, now has 651 career boards for No. 15 on Penn State's all-time list; Averaging a double-double in last 5 games with 10.2 pts and 10.0 rebounds
G – 2 – Myles Dread -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 8.8 | rpg: 3.1
Note: Team-best 45 3-FG with 19 in January; Has 16 starts (most of freshmen) and 11.0 ppg average over last 5 games
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 2.7| rpg: 2.8
Note: Has started last four games and 13 overall; Possesses a 4.33:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in last four starts
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.1 | rpg: 4.7
Note: Approaching 500 career rebound milestone, currently with 474; #3 on PSU career steals list (222) and #9 on Big Ten career chart
SERIES vs. PURDUE
The last five meetings in the BJC under coach Patrick Chambers have produced two of the Nittany Lions' 12 wins vs. the Boilermakers and two-straight overtime losses, to a No. 14 Purdue squad in 2017 (70-74), and in 2015 (77-84). The average scoring margin in the last three games, listed below, is 5.0 points:
March 3, 2018
No. 8 Purdue, 78-70, Big Ten Tournament at MSG
Feb. 18, 2018
No. 6 Purdue, 76-73, Mackey Arena
Feb. 21, 2017
No. 14 Purdue, 74-70 OT, BJC
Meetings from the last 10 seasons are on page 4 of the game notes.The full series list is on page 177 of media guide.
Series streak: Purdue, W7
Last game: at New York, N.Y. (BTT-MSG)
Purdue 78, Penn State 70, 3/3/18 (semifinals)
Overall series: Purdue leads 37-12
at University Park: Purdue leads 13-10
Chambers vs. Purdue: 2-11
STARTING 5
Thursday's game is the annual Coaches vs. Cancer-Penn State game with a portion of ticket sales benefitting CVC. CVC-Penn State recently surpassed $3 million (net) milestone for funds raised.
Seven of Penn State's eight opponents this month have or held Associated Press top-25 rankings (5), or were receiving votes at the time the teams played. Notre Dame is the only other DI program to face five ranked opponents in January.
Rasir Bolton leads the Big Ten in free throw percentage at 90.3 (56-60) and owns a 95.2 percentage in league games (20-21).
Mike Watkins ranks in the top 25 in five categories on the NCAA DI active career list: 9-blocked shots avg., 15-FG pct., 15-total blocked shots; 19-reb avg. and 22nd for double-doubles.
Julius Erving Award candidate Lamar Stevens moved up to the No. 12 spot on Penn State's career scoring list (1,396) and has scored in double figures in all but one game this season, has six double-doubles and 10 games with 20 or more points in 2018-19.
TIGHTLY CONTESTED GAME GOES TO RUTGERS, 64-60
Lamar Stevens scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, but a timely 3-pointer by Geo Baker gave Rutgers a late lead, and eventually the 64-60 win Saturday. The largest crowd of the year, 13,366 strong, came out for the THON game to support the student-organization's mission to conquer childhood cancer.
Baker finished with 20 points and both teams had three players in double figures. Mike Watkins had a game-best nine rebounds while Stevens had eight.
A stretch of 7:30 in the second half witnessed five of the game's eight ties and five lead changes. A 7-0 run by the Nittany Lions to open the period put them up by one, 33-32, as Stevens and Reaves followed a Myles Dread 3-pointer with two baskets.
The tightly contested game continued with ties at 37, 41, 43, 45, 51 and 53 points. Rutgers' Baker hit two free throws for a 54-53 lead and then hit a 3-pointer from the top of the arc less than a minute later to put the Scarlet Knights up 57-53. It was Rutgers' final last field goal of the game with 3:26 remaining, but seven points came off 10 trips to the foul line for the final margin.
The Nittany Lions got a big put-back basket from Watkins and made five of their six free throws, but couldn't get any closer than within a point of Rutgers, 58-57, with 2:33 left in the game.
Both teams went through scoring droughts with Rutgers' coming early in the half while Penn State had a stretch without a field goal midway through the second half. The Nittany Lions made six free throws while the Scarlet Knights' nearly three-minute scoring drought late in the half allowed PSU to tie the game at 51. Rasir Bolton's layup with 4:20 left gave PSU its last lead at 53-52.
Montez Mathis and Eugene Omoruyi each had 11 points to go along with Baker's 20 on the night for Rutgers and Shaq Carter had seven rebounds to lead the Scarlet Knights.
BY THE NUMBERS
2.85 – Team GPA for fall 2018 semester, highest single-semester GPA by the Nittany Lions in the Chambers era.
3 – Millions of dollars raised (net) by Coaches vs. Cancer-Penn State since the organization was launched in 1995.
4.33 – In his last four starts, sophomore guard Jamari Wheeler has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.33 to 1.0.
5 – Penn State's overall strength of schedule ranks fifth, according to kenpom.com, and sixth as calculated by CBS Sports. The nonconference strength of schedule is ranked 25th.
23 – Penn State is 7-1 when it records more assists than its opponent. The only loss came vs. No. 23 Iowa when the Nittany Lions had a season-best 23 assists on 30 field goals.
651 – With back-to-back nine-rebound games, Mike Watkins has 651 for his career for 15th on Penn State's all-time list. Only 11 Nittany Lions have 700 or more career rebounds.
1,396 – Lamar Stevens is four points from 1,400 points for his career. His 1,396 career point total ranks 12th in Penn State history.
